Are Filipinos actively looking for Butthurt?

Filipinos like to see themselves as happy people. But this contradicts the numerous times Filipinos express outrage against something. Outrage fads come from time to time. Adam Carolla’s criticisms, Katherine Ryan’s joke using Filipino children, a woman named Kiki, and many other things seem to bring out the Filipinos’ anger hormones. Worst of all, some writers even have the gall to say Filipinos deserve to be outraged when they see something “insulting” to their race, no matter how petty and trivial it is.

Lately, there have been a string of topics of outrage, such as Agness Walewinder’s controversial post on Filipino food, and a recent article by a Filipino expat in Singapore that described his difficulty in adjusting to his home country. While these pieces may be flawed in some ways, I see the problems they highlight: for the Walewinder article, it’s food safety, and in the expat’s case, nothing has really improved after so long. Despite the flaws of these accounts, the message they bring still rings true: the Philippines still has problems that should have been solved a long time ago.

Aside from the above, there are still worse idiocies, such as the Filipino expat in Australia complaining about a local person named Kiki, or insulting Iranian players just because they won over the Philippine team. Lately, some Filipinos are raging against news of recent study findings that violent video games may increase violent behavior in children. It may be self-fulfilling when you see Filipinos rage in the comment threads, likely proving the study right.

It seems that Filipinos have a “butthurt” radar, as if they’re looking for things to rage about. The problem is, when there is something truly worth raging about, such as the victims of the Bus Hostage crisis not being given due attention, bus accidents killing so many people because of negligence and a bad transport system, a fraternity claiming another life through hazing and one of our own OFWs slapping a helpless elderly patient, Filipinos seem relatively quiet. There is clearly something wrong about the way Filipinos direct their outrage.

And this makes we wonder: do we Filipinos really want to be happy, or do we love to be outraged?

I posited that Filipinos imagine themselves to be a people oppressed by foreigners. They think every country in the world is out to get them, so they look for ways to attack the other countries as “getting back;” but this is immature and does not work. Another is that Filipinos want attention, and thus they rage at something to show that they exist, somewhat like the immature teenager who tries to look tough or “siga” because of their hormonal influences. This would be overcompensation, an attempt to overcome feelings of inferiority – which should not exist in the first place. Or is it because Filipinos, when they are experiencing hardship, believe they have the right to pull others into hardship, because it should be the “other person” and not them suffering. Or maybe the happiness of Filipinos is actually mostly fake and fragile, and any perceived threat to it is pounced upon, including truthful criticisms. That only highlights insecurity.

But here is a theory I would like to offer: Filipino outrage is being manipulated.

A note on “Filipino outrage:” The ones following outrage fads online and in mass media are from the middle or upper classes. They are similar to Filipinos during Rizal’s time: people who are in middle or upper classes in the Philippines. Indios were not called Filipinos, then. Today, it’s the middle and upper classes who seem to be the only Filipinos online spewing the outrage. They are the ones the foreigners see, so they are the targets of articles like this. Most of the poorer people, who have no Internet, sometimes no TV, and have to work hard, don’t have time or the venue to outrage. They’re too busy trying to solve their poverty.

What’s happening is that mass media is using Filipino outrage for their own purposes. Whether it is to generate hits or views, they actually do it for themselves. They try to portray certain things in a biased angle to provoke outrage, and then come out with messages encouraging outrage, implying that if you don’t have outrage, you are a traitor or something. In truth, they are getting attention at the expense of our comfort. Sometimes, I wonder if the viewers should sue the media companies for creating health hazards, since they’re causing high blood pressure this way.

Perhaps outrage fads serve the purpose of poverty porn. Showing the world that they are downtrodden, poor, helpless, oppressed saps is the easiest thing to do instead of solving the problems that keep them downtrodden, poor, helpless, oppressed saps. Outrage is actually being used to draw attention to oneself, likely for attention’s sake, or maybe just to ask for dole-outs.

Such intense outrage at things like Carolla’s criticisms, Chip Tsao, Walewinder’s criticism of Filipino food, opposing sports teams who win against ours and a woman with an offensive name is useless. The best it will do is make us look like the town jester who gets angry when people are laughing at him. We need to be more careful than ever of outrage fads, because sometimes, we get angry at the things that are actually helping us.

The best thing that Filipinos can do is ignore these things that seem to be causes of outrage. If they even pay attention and comment, they are in effect “feeding the troll,” and just causing headaches for themselves, the equivalent analogy being taking a hammer and hitting oneself on the head with it. “Happy” Filipinos contradict themselves when they pay attention to perceived “insults” against them. They should realize outrage fads are wasting their time and even endangering their health. Best let these things slide off and keep one’s head, and proceed to make a more worthwhile achievement on one’s own, whether a scientist, nurse or artist, to show the world what Filipinos are truly capable of and build a better reputation through work achievements.

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About ChinoF

I stick with this blog because I believe, as my cohorts do, that many things Filipino embrace as part of their culture are pulling them down. And I blog freely to show that in a truly decent society, with true freedom of speech, even nobodies have a voice.

108 Comments on “Are Filipinos actively looking for Butthurt?”

One thing is for sure: Filipinos love to create “noise” whether getting butthurt on something or if one of their countrymen is recognized internationally. Filipino people are prone to insecurity – they believe they should be entitled to everything, even if they haven’t done any means to earn such or if they feel threatened by someone who is superior to them in any way. Insecurity + Prideful for the wrong reasons and that, my friends, is the rotten core of being a Filipino amidst the hospitality/ability to handle hardships.

Right.
And no doubt a member of the travelers century club, and a michelin inspector as well, with your finely tuned appreciation of “foreign stuff” !! and able to differentiate between the roman spaghetti stuff and the tuscan spaghetti stuff.
Please enlighten me on the variation as you perceive it.

Because the Michelin Guide is a Western culture-centric propaganda vehicle. Don’t be fooled. Just because Filpino music doesn’t win Grammy awards doesn’t mean Filipino music is bad. In fact, Filipino music is among the best in the world.

ROTFLMAO @ U, if U think ‘GREENWHICH PIZZA is better than any pizza in NYC, OH BOY!!! U MAKE ME LAUGH!!! The shit is garbage in contrast to several ‘mediocre’ pizzeria’s I can name off hand in NYC.

However, MY FAVORITE NYC ‘TO GO’ PIZZA? Falafel’s, 38th St. and 7th Ave. 2 slices and a medium fountain drink: $2, u must find a place to eat it as for $2 u just can’t expect a place to sit too…not in NYC anyway!

FOR THE RECORD, I cooked a ‘REAL’ Spaghetti & Chicken Parmaghianna meal for a few well-to-do Filipino’s in 2011 and they ate the food I prepared and thanked me as well, two guests were KO’d by the dishes & wanted the recipe BUT, the others? I think they preferred the sweet crappy stuff they get in the local restaurants to my dishes. A matter of taste ,of course, BUT I guarantee you that these people had never eaten REAL Italia food before that evening.

The Pizza in Naples will surprise you. Very few toppings (some have none at all). Its all about the cheese and the sauce. Simplicity, freshest ingredients (usually from a farm nearby), and execution.

Having said that, Filipinos have taken Pizza to another level. Even Pinoy Spaghetti (using banana ketchup) is a masterpiece of pure genius. I’m baffled why Italians haven’t copied our Banana Ketchup Sauce yet. I think it goes back Foreign bias towards Asian Countries. They are butthurt to admit that the Philippines can beat them at their own game.

@ ProudPinoy, Look PIZZA originated in Naples/Southern Italia….it is only supposed to have dough,sauce,cheese. add a li’l hot pepper,salt, or parmesan cheese…and you have the REAL PIZZA. This ‘whole new level’ nonsense is NOT REAL PIZZA, Kapeche?

Sorry i like my pizza Italian… not adding 60 peso CATSUP crap on my spag and pizza..go to Naples and try the original pizza there….but im sure you wont because you will defend your PAPAS branded abomination to your death wont you? Fucking pinoy pride…
Look around you mate..
Jose Rizal died for nothing..

Everyone is entitled to their own opinion. The thing with your statement is your claim comes out really narcissist and chauvinist not to mention racist. Why racist? every single food you mentioned are dear to a certain culture/race that declaring that “Our stuff is better that yours” is really offensive. Since it comes down to food let me ask you something how many Michelin stared local restaurant in Philippines we have? Now dont give me that crap that michelin accreditation is bias to western food, cause as far as I know Hong Kong and Japan’s michelin stared restaurants are only serving their original country dish.

Either your tastebuds are dysfunctional or just heavily biased. Either way, Pinoy Pride is an idiots boastful attitude. Please refrain from this pride shenanigans because your so called “well traveled” abilities gives you the chance to bash others cultural cuisine? I tried our Caldereta and in good places too but it doesnt mean it is better than the other dishes and saying it sucks. Its like comparing apples to lemons, to different things altogether. Also, people like you disgust me and if there was ever a jumping board off this planet, I would gladly kick you off. I don’t take crap from airheads.

I doubt “Proud Pinoy” traveled to different countries…if he/she did, then that person would have found unique and sumptuous dishes from each country he/she has visited.

Instead, he/she uses the opportunity to promote very prideful claims that our food is the best in the world (no real proof since there’s no Michelin Star Filipino resto anywhere in the world) and cannot defend his/her claims in the logical sense – opting to say that foreigners are jaded, instead.

Clearly, Pinoy Pride is too deluded and butthurt inside from the truth, lol.

Please know the difference between opinions and facts.
All the things you listed are simply your own preferences regarding food. Even your tag name already shows how biased your posts will be. So don’t go on declaring to the rest of us that Pinoy Food is the best food. If its the best food for yourself then I’m not gonna argue that. Kanya-kanyang trip ika nga..

Otherwise, why not get representatives from all provinces and each state of every country from all the nationalities you have mentioned and see if they agree with your list? Come to think of it if your list has been accepted by the rest of the world.. why hasn’t the title of “Best Cuisine in the World” given to the Philippines yet?

And btw, don’t go on setting up your comments saying that those who disagree with your opinions are insane. I doubt there is any proven mental condition that disagreeing with your opinions equates to a person’s sanity. But rather it only shows that you do not value the opinions that contradicts yours and that you are narrow-minded.. which in turn puts your social skills in question.

1. It depends on who’s cooking the palabok. Some palabok are good, some are just crappy, and maybe Agnes tasted the crappy version. Try comparing the palabok of, say, Jollibee, and that of Pancit ng Taga-Malabon or Razon’s, and you can distinctly taste the difference.

2. I like both Caldereta and Curry, mainly because like ’em spicy. Again, there are crappy tasting caldereta and curry after all.

3. BBQ is BBQ. Whatever differs in taste is an acquired one.

4. I haven’t tasted Foie Gras, but who cares? I like chicken liver adobo (so as long as it’s not crappy).

5. Never been abroad, so who cares’s about Puerto Rico’s lechon? Regardless, I haven’t experienced crappy lechon anywhere.

6. Never been to belize either. Still there’s always crappy kinilaw.

7. This is where I disagree. Banana ketchup is just not right for pasta. But crappy spaghetti is crappy.

8. I again disagree. Greenwich’s dough is CHEAP. I’ll eat it if it’s offered, but never as a purchase. I prefer Pizza Hut (I used to be a PH service crew) and Shakey’s.

9. I like Sinigang over Tom Yum, but I wouldn’t say it’s better than Japanese Miso soup. There

10. I disagree. There are crappy tapsilog and gyudon after all. Either is an acquired taste for people not used to the spices used to marinate them (though both are laced with MSG).

11. It depends on the “Flan.”

12. It depends on the Lugaw. Have you ever eaten street lugaw? You’ll tolerate it if you’re that hungry and on a tight budget, but you’ll NEVER say it’s better.

13. I’ll probably agree with this conditionally, since I LOVE Tinola. Still there’s that chance of a crappy tinola.

14. Never been to those places, but, like the others, there’s crappy crispy pata, which is still good after you’ve downed your 3rd beer.

15. Nope. I’ve tasted other cheeses. QdB is hardly a top choice, as such I actually prefer the taste of Eden Cheese over QdB anytime.

Kesong Puti, maybe?

16. Still depends, though I haven’t really tasted any other hams but those sold in the Philippines. Aged chinese bone ham is actually better.

17. Acquired taste. Haggis is mostly innards. If you live in Scotland long enough, you’ll like it as much as most pinoys like Isaw and Balut.

18. Fried Chicken is Fried Chicken. Unless it’s crappy.

19. I disagree. No sausage is better than the next when one is hungry enough. For one, I can eat a german or hungarian sausage cold, whereas one still has to fry longganisa for it to be “tasty.”

20. Again, crappyness comes into play. There’s good Pancit Malabon, and there’s one so bad it doesn’t deserve to be called it.

Philippine food are mostly copied from foreign cuisine so there is no point of comparing them. The name itself are foreign eg. Adobo, Menudo, Asado, etc…even the ingredients came from abroad – soy sauce, vinegar, catsup etc…Philippines does not have an original cuisine with an all original Philippine based ingredient.

Taste? To an untrained palette whatever you’re used to tasts “better” than (actual normal compared to) what you’re not accustomed to eating. Taste is merely an unqualified opinion, therefore claiming Filippo foods tastes better to you, based only on your personal food prejudices, is irrelevant.

“Quality?” if you’re claiming that the quality is better, then Where’s your evidence? When you posit such claims then you bear the burden of proof. Yet I see no proof. Only a vague prejudiced claim of being “better”.

You have none. You simply produced a list based on nothing more than your personal food bias.

Most Filipino foods are unhealthy, being high in salt, and super high in carbohydrates (sugar, rice, Pan-de-Sol, etc.) although there are foreign foods that don’t taste good the ratio of good-to-bad tasting food is high in other countries, but in the Philippines it’s the other way around. There’s more bad tasting food, and more bad-for-you foods than in other countries.

While the Filipino piles on the salts and sugars other nations shun such practices in favor of healthier foods that are savory not sweet, and low in sodium.

Stop changing the subject, you were telling a while ago that nothing beats Pinoy food against all other cuisines. We aren’t talking about Filipinos looking for a chance to eat Filipino food if there’s a chance.

Telling other people that your country’s food is better than all of their local dishes in any way is a sign of being disrespectful to their culture. Not all people can appreciate Filipino food.

If your thick skull can’t get that, I doubt you still have a brain after this.

Stop avoiding my arguments. If you cannot counter them then just say I am right.

Nothing beats Pinoy food. I bet even YOU eat Pinoy food most of the time for an ENTIRE YEAR. Why? Because it is better. Would you eat it if it was bad?

Not all people can appreciate Filipino food because they are stuck in a culture-centric mental prison. If they tried to break from these cultural biases they will truly enjoy the greatness of Filipino cuisine.

Oh now you’re trying to emulate me by saying that I should stop avoiding your “argument.” Very funny.

My goodness, at least a half-retard can understand what I’m trying to say.

“Not all people can appreciate Filipino food because they are stuck in a culture-centric mental prison” – FYI, there’s also a big chance that many foreigners can eat food from other countries but never into Pinoy food. Isn’t it funny that you belong to that “culture-centric mental prison” that you’re talking about by refusing to believe that not all people like Filipino food?

Aha you are using my culture-centric mind prison argument against me. Nice try but it won’t work. You see they are the ones trapped in the culture-centric mind prison, not YOU and ME who love and eat Pinoy Food most of the most, most of the year. Why do YOU and ME eat Pinoy food? We are not slaves to our cultural biases, we are smarter than that. We eat Pinoy food most of the time because of the simple fact that it is better and that foreigners (with the exceptions of world famous chefs Anthony Bourdain and Andrew Zimmern) are just not open minded enough to see this truth.

Pinoys are not known as gourmets. Their taste in food is on par with their taste in Presidents. Pinoys look for pinoy food in Europe for the same reason that a jeepney driver would totally starve in a gourmet restaurant in Shangril-La. Pinoy food is not world class because other cultures do not support it abroad. There are a glut of cooking shows. The only ones cooking pinoy food are pinoy cooks. Yes there are Jollibees abroad. Packed with pinoys. Nobody cares about the PBA except pinoys.

I wont go to Philippines even if I’m given a free all paid tour. I’d also pick japanese/chinese food over filipino food anytime, this holds true for 10 of my friends. You are as delusional as fck if you think that Philippines is the primary choice of most americans for a vacation. They’d rather go to Hawaii.

Jesus! Just shut the fuck up man. I am an American Filipino and I can vouch and say that American’s DONT look for Filipino food at times because of how unhealthy and unclean it appears to be in presentation. In fact, they prefer Chinese, Korean, Japanese, Italian, etc. List grows. Unfortunately your dysfunctional brain and tastebuds don’t quite seem to understand the things I say because egomaniacs like imbeciles like you are just overly think skulled and busy running your mouth like you know shit but really the only thing people like you really know is HOW to spout shit when you speak. Quit bashing the cuisine of other cultures, get off your high horse and gtfo. As a Filipino, despite eating Filipino food often, I dont see what the big deal is. I tried pinoy spaghetti and you know what, there is to much sugar and would gladly pick Italian over the other. Run off your mouth somewhere else when your done proving nothing.

What’s the rock-bottom of my list?
The worst: Filipino food.
There’s little to love about a food that has given me far more cases of food poisoning in just the last six years of living here, than I got in all my previous 54 years living in any of 12 other countries.

Curry. Sushi/Sashimi/Maki. Ramen/Lamien. Gyudon/Misono. To name a few.

But, seriously, there’s nothing one can eat “every day” without getting hogshit crazy. Even Tinola, my favorite, will start tasting bland after a few days of it. The reason why our taste buds evolved is because people started to experience different taste. There are people with more sophisticated taste buds, there are those who can tolerate fried fish everyday, mostly because of their ways and means.

Exactly. So a food blogger (or travel blogger… whatever) says something bad about her own experience about the Pinoy foods… so what? It doesn’t even change anything (although it should have been a wake up call but whatever) here, nor does it affect me in any way. So I agree… I don’t know why Pinoys would be into a fit of rage just for ONE person who had a bad experience.

What is true for one, may be false for another. Therefore, one cannot force their ideals / beliefs into another. Most Pinoys miss this.

How does her name relate to any value to her opinions? If we’re going in that direction, Filipino names aren’t exactly the best aesthetically sounding in the world. It’s either a Western name or some joke like Jaymar or something. Some cheap shots right there.

I remember an episode of “Three’s Company” where John Ritter’s character was set up on a blind date with someone named “Agnes.” He refused (because her name is “Agnes”), and passed Agnes to his douchebag friend.

Of course, as the story unfolded, Agnes turned out to be a super hot babe John’s character liked, and he lost because he stereotyped her.

Much like what you did. Did you even bother looking up Agness Walewinde, just to see if she’s an old hag?

I did. She actually looks quite above the “normal average.” But again, that doesn’t really prove anything. She might just really bland burgers and not turd ones…

You know I was clearing things out because of people like Pinoy Pride but frankly your no better than he is. I said my share to prove a point and nothing more. I meant no ill will towards anyone but Pinoy Pride but if your going to include me just because of what I said “as an American”? Push comes to shove, its people like you who make enemies with everyone else. Hypocrite to what the site stands for. I never picked a fight with you. Remember that the next time you include someone like me and call them “ignoramus”.

At first I thought Proud Pinoy was being sarcastic and was actually smiling. Apparently that’s not the case. I have my own opinion about the Pinoy cuisine and other countries that I have traveled to, so I think I’ll stick with my own.

After all, this is a matter of taste. What can be true for me, can be false for another. Obviously arguing something like that isn’t gonna go anywhere… kinda like arguing which religion is better.

@ Topic

I agree with most of the article, EXCEPT for a few parts. In the article, it was mentioned that the lower / poorer class do not rage as much as the middle or upper class because of problems with resources? Unfortunately, when it comes to protecting “Pinoy Pride”… these parasites actually find ways just to argue over the net. Never underestimate the power of the human being when it comes to what they perceive as important. Of course, their limited minds perceive “being right” as important, even if it means “losing”.

(It’s also the same parasites who have barely any money to feed their family but can boast the latest iPhones -_-)

Do you all think this “raging” is actually a form of bullying against someone, or something, that they know will not retaliate?

Oh, and the bus hostage crisis thing? Actually pridist actually reacted to it… by saying they’re still “proud to be Pinoy” and that Hong Kong was “asking too much”. I even read one comment made against HK government in one article, which said: “Tangina patay na nga yung mga tao ano pa ba magagawa natin? Eh kung may namatay na Pinoy sa HK may a-apologize ba sila?”

That case mentioned in your last line was when some Filipino tourists did get murdered in China (not HK) in 2005, I think. The Chinese government did apologize for that and gave some assistance (as in money) to the family. So the retort of that comment is wrong. Some people still do that because of misinformation.

I totally agree on the parasite part. They are even so full of themselves to claim that the Government owes them a lot of things when they don’t even pay proper tax. And to those morons who would argue that they do pay tax in the form of E-Vat they are using the road and sidewalks the government built right? Not to mention how needy they are when they ask for a lifetime financial assistance to our fucked up politicians and then complain afterward. Then complains where the “Tax” they are claiming they paid goes. Some really fucked up parasites if you ask me.

Pinoys are a butthurt just waiting to happen. It does not matter how insignificant the source they will declare war on that entire nationality.The food blogger was a food blogger. The guy complaining about Pinays in a Singapore bus was just a guy writing to a publication. Talk about high maintenance.

Justin Bieber does nothing for me but me looking down on his music will never stop the 9 year old girl crying wishing he was hers. So Justin Bieber’s job is not to please me but to give that 9 year old and other millions like her what they want. Maybe he should also go easy on Florida cops.

She wasn’t even a food blogger, she was a travel blogger writing the occasional post about food among other subjects she didn’t claim to be an expert in (but is entitled to voice her opinions and experience about). I honestly cannot believe how much it’s being discussed, even a week later.

Is there some way to just collectively slap every one of these Proud people? Finance a short ad in-between their favourite telenovela or game show telling them the world doesn’t revolve around them and wouldn’t even notice them if they weren’t so fucking loud all the time.

Won’t work. Heck if you noticed the Telebasuras are normally themed around “us vs them”. Us being the poor, marginalized Pinoys and are almost always the good guys (even if they are squatting and to me that is automatically a crime. It’s theft) and the them being the rich and powerful people who are always bullying the poor.

Then the ending almost always shows the poor guy winning and the “evil” rich guy siding with the poor or getting his consequence.

So even our TV shows is about the world revolving around the poor guys… and how everything eventually works for them. So why would they suddenly introduce ads against that?

so true! its always the same bullcrap this Pinoy TV series “telebasura” as you call it (I really love the term you used fits perfectly) we have the poor ghetto borned idiots always the oppressed and bullied and the rich and well educated are always the opressor and always have the asshole attitude. when in reality at most times its the exact opposite.

Our outraged is our frustrations in misdirected way. Things that we have the power to change. Yet, we don’t change them. Because they are too much affiliated to us. Most Filipinos are afraid of the unknown. So, they resist change…

I’m increasingly seeing that the famed ‘hard-working Filipino’ label only really applies to the OFWs, not the average Filipino in their homeland.

I have a lot of respect for OFWs, working in appalling conditions and being treated like shit by employers so they can send money home to their lazy, good-for-nothing families. Obviously a generalisation, but from the people I know and what I’ve seen, more than 50% of them are content to sit around in filth not doing anything to improve their God-given lot. When has effort and hard work got anyone anywhere?

There was a study we conducted at uni where we interviewed a broad cross section of ambulant homeless in Metro Manila. Many of them were couples in their teens and already had at least one child.

One prominent finding we discerned was that a number of these couples decided to have children because it was the only thing they could point to as an achievement. Lacking any marketable skills, much less gainful employment, they see giving birth and raising a child as a means of recognition; evidence that they are capable of accomplishing something despite their circumstances. This was also a means of establishing a ‘legacy’ for themselves; something which they hoped might live on to show they had ‘existed.’

Looks like these views about having a child need to be changed. Although, how could that be done? Maybe school education could do it, but not all do. It does boil down to the values actually believed and practiced in the family.

I think the mentality of these squatters is that more children would mean their kids would be the ones working for their parents. Not only is this a ridiculous idea, they also expose their children to all kinds of dangers. The increasing number of street children begging for alms is clear proof.

Please know the difference between opinions and facts.
All the things you listed are simply your own preferences regarding food. Even your tag name already shows how biased your posts will be. So don’t go on declaring to the rest of us that Pinoy Food is the best food. If its the best food for yourself then I’m not gonna argue that. Kanya-kanyang trip ika nga..

Otherwise, why not get representatives from all provinces and each state of every country from all the nationalities you have mentioned and see if they agree with your list? Come to think of it if your list has been accepted by the rest of the world.. why hasn’t the title of “Best Cuisine in the World” given to the Philippines yet?

And btw, don’t go on setting up your comments saying that those who disagree with your opinions are insane. I doubt there is any proven mental condition that disagreeing with your opinions equates to a person’s sanity. But rather it only shows that you do not value the opinions that contradicts yours and that you are narrow-minded.. which in turn puts your social skills in question.

I appreciate the objective view that this site’s articles have about the Philippines. My parents are Filipino, and I’ve been born and raised here in America, so this is a good site from which to get a more critical view of current events in the country.

That being said, however, I’m really DISGUSTED with the amount of self-loathing and arrogance from the commentators here. It’s reminiscent of the Chinese exchange students at my school who have serious identity issues, complete ignorance of, and total lack of pride for, their people and heritage. (For example, my CHINESE classmate used to call me and my Filipino friend ‘Chinks.’)

While I’ve come to embrace America, love its history, etc, I am DEFINITELY still proud to be a Filipino. And I honestly cannot see that kind of pride in these comments made by people who see Filipinos as inherently flawed, and that anything Western is superior and good. On the contrary, the Philippine gov’t and its people have gotten increasingly Westernized in the past few decades, and it’s going hand-in-hand with its furthering inefficiency and social dysfunction. Don’t worry, the rest of the West (except probably Germany) will have the same fate.

I have been reading around the site; it’s mostly the social viewpoints I find problems with. I hate to see virulent anti-Catholic(ism) or anti-poor comments. And I understand that we should get rid of fake Filipino pride, but it seems as though some people here want create a whole different nation devoid of any uniqueness, identity, & preservation of culture. Sort of like the libertarians here in the US.

Are we commenting on traits or flaws? Can we improve , should we improve or is status quo Eutopia as far as Pinoys are concerned? My last blog post I put the word ignorance in the title. Opinion is one thing and facts are another. Pinoys always get their facts wrong. Am I wrong for pointing that out? Is that self loathing ? Is it Representative of Catholic values for the most Catholic nation in Asia to lie about facts?

The solution to most of the problems in the Philippines (the main theme being ignorance) is education. While that’s the message of many of these posts, I just don’t appreciate their embittered tone. You’ll catch more flies with honey than vinegar, I guess is what I’m saying.

And, I think you’re mixing correlation with causation when you say that the Philippines is full of liars because it’s Catholic? What Catholic values compel people to lie?

The flies we need to catch won’t be coming no matter what we use . Not every Catholic nation ends up like this one. What I am implying is Pinoys love the perceived shield and label of being Catholic but don’t bother with the responsibility the values that come with being Catholic. They prefer Erap and Kris Aquino as role models.

Okay, I understand that. You mean that too many people are Catholics in name only, or are undereducated about their faith. Sadly that is true, but I believe educating them (about their faith and culture) is the way to go, rather than removing Catholic influence from Filipino society.

Ferdinand Marcos’ intention was to create a cult of personality around him. What he wanted was blind subservience to the Marcoses, not discipline. He needed to convince the Filipino people that authoritarian rule was “not necessarily a bad thing” compared to the chaos of the late 1960s and that transitioning the Philippines into becoming an industrialised nation required a ‘strongman’ just like the other nations in Southeast Asia.

Well, Singapore is built upon the same worldview that Marcos had. Some countries just might need a strongman – Russia under Yeltsin experienced crony capitalism, economic collapse, political turmoil, and social decay. Putin has managed to reverse or alleviate much of those problems, and is incredibly popular among many Russians. Might Filipinos have to bypass democracy to see some real progress? “What good is democracy, if it’s not for the poor?” as Marcos said.

My auntie who lived in Canada for 20 years came back to Manila for vacation recently. She will not take Filipino taxis (too filthy), she will not eat filipino food (she compared it to dog food), she won’t even look at filipino men (ugly mugs with small ‘tools’)

To tell you the truth, I’ve seen a couple of your examples. The ones we “rage” about and the ones we “don’t”. The reason why more publicly rage and try to defend themselves in posts targeted to Filipinos is because they are being insulted as well. Note the context clue. These “outrageous” posts are targeted to FILIPINOS IN GENERAL. It means ghat it is directed towards any Filipino that stumbles upon it. And I’ve seen a couple of videos of yayas abusing the elderly and such and I just wish I could pull all of their hair out and watch their scalps bleed. I know others feel like that too. They just don’t show it publicly because they are afraid that people will think that they like sticking their noses in everybody’s business. And if you DO read the comments, you’ll find tons of them. And almost every single sentence has them cussing their fingers off (What? They’re typing, right?). Besides we think it is stupid to try to defend ourselves if it was not targeted towards us. It will go like this:

That person said that we are people. But why? It doesn’t make sense because the video was about a caretaker abusing an old woman and was not about some guy kidnapping random people off the street and then treating them like animals.

I’ve seen Pinoys in Britain over-react, because of simple misunderstanding of British comedy. Being able to take a joke is important, to fitting in and adapting to a country like Britain (or any Anglo country). Its something older Filipinos seem to miss, but that does not mean they are not pilloried by comedians. I much prefer a Filipino comic to insult Filipino culture, because there is a context. Its so hard to miss when you are describing another culture.

In 2013, when asked “unlikely lines from a cosmetics commercial”, comic Katherine Ryan replied “We don’t test any of our products on animals. We use Filipino Children”.

It was obviously not intended as an insult towards Filipino children, but I had trouble with her bitter retaliation over the misunderstood, but badly judged joke, in her 2017 special.

She used a stereotypical Chinese accent to pillory Filipinos, and said that the ghost of Joan Rivers told her that Filipinos are “as bad at understanding satire as they are at running away from tsunamis”. Why did she have to hide behind the spectre of Joan Rivers to further insult people who did nothing to her to begin with?

Its easy to mock a minority who have no voice in Britain, and cant respond through the platform of a comedy special. You will NEVER ever hear a British comedian mock Jamaicans or Indians in this manner, even though both those countries have child slave labour, because comedians like Ryan are cowards. They will claim that they don’t single anyone out, and say things about all races, but this is BS. Its a very rare, and brave comedian, who will mock all races equally.

Maybe its hard to understand why its not hilarious to attack children living in poverty, making clothes for people like Katherine Ryan, who gladly defends her cruelty towards animals because its “not illegal, just frowned upon”.

A bit like racism.

She may claim, that she was attacking cosmetic companies. Fair enough, but she invalidates that argument when she doubles down on a bigoted remark. She is a comedian, in multicultural London, and she has no idea what Filipino’s sound like? They don’t have Chinese accents. Its just sloppy to assign a Chinese accent to Filipinos, (this in itself, is a racist caricature).

I get that the irony was sadly missed by Filipinos. But she chose to just lash out at a group that in her calculation, and in the calculation of many white British people, is OK to be bigoted towards. Just don’t make fun of Jamaicans, Africans, Indians, Pakistani’s, and other former subjects of the British empire. Its open season on every other ethnic group.

She could have said that Filipinos can no more outrun a tsunami than the Irish can flee from a bottle of whiskey?

Your an immigrant Katherine Ryan, but you have adopted a nasty British vice – insulting immigrants, while simultaneously forgetting that you yourself are one.